Surveyed people expressed a poor opinion towards the workf of legislators in Puerto Rico, including their leaders

The Legislative Assembly that was established more than five months ago has not been able to overcome the usual poor evaluation of the participants of El Nuevo Día poll because, on this occasion, 40% of the participants thought that, up to now, its performance has been "worse" than expected.

This number is higher than that obtained by the Legislative Assembly constituted in January 2013. According to the April 2013 survey, 35% of the interviewees believed in that occasion that the work of the Legislature had been below the expectations.

According to data from the most recent edition of the survey, conducted between May 24th and 26th 2017, only 18% think that the work of the legislative chambers has been "better" than expected.

However, this perception doubled the 9% obtained by the Legislature in the April 2013 Survey.

35% of those interviewed this time believe that the new Legislature has been more or less what they expected. However, in the April 2013 poll, 51% of participants felt that the Legislature had had until then an "equal" performance than expected.

In the most recent survey, a 7% did not know how to evaluate the Legislature that now in the Capitol.

Fidelity of the members

So far, the largest support to the legislative body performance is among the members of the New Progressive Party (PNP), a delegation that dominates the Senate and House. The 34% of that group feel that the chambers have exceeded their expectations.

Among these affiliates, 44% believe that the Legislature has behaved in line with expectations, while 18% believe that the performance has been "worse" than expected.

This vision of being below expectations is the one that dominates among affiliates to the PPD, with 71%; among minority parties and independent candidates, with 62%, and among non-members, with 46%.

Worse than expected

The opinion on the performance of the president of the Senate also shows a disenchantment against the expectations that he had.

The 43% believe Rivera Schatz's performance in the first five months of the four-year period has been "worse" than expected, compared with the 18% who say he has been "better."

Meanwhile, 32% believe his performance has been on par with what was expected from the leader of the PNP and the remaining 7% not sure what to say.

Those who feel that Rivera Schatz has been below expectations, with 43%, are more than those who had that impression of last year's Senate president Eduardo Bhatia, with 36%, according to the April 2013 poll.

At that time, 45% said that Bhatia's performance was "equal" than expected, compared to 32% that feel like today with Rivera Schatz. And while 11% felt that Bhatia had exceeded their expectations, now for Rivera Schatz that feeling is by 18%.

Perception leveled

The Nuevo Día poll reveals that identical fractions of participants either "approve" or "disapprove" the work so far Carlos "Johnny" Méndez has as president of the House of Representatives, with 32% of each feeling.

Another 22% feel that "neither approve nor disapprove" the work of Mendez, while the remaining 14% are not sure what to comment. This level of indecision is twice as much for the President of the House as for his counterpart in the Senate.

The feeling towards the leader of the Chamber reflects, even, different opinions among the members of the PNP. Specifically, while 57% "approve" his work, 14% "disapprove" and another 20% "neither approve nor disapprove". There is a 9% of the members of the PNP who do not comment about it.

Meanwhile, 67% of those affiliated to the PPD say they "disapprove" of Mendez's work, as well as 51% of members of minority parties. In the case of those not affiliated with political parties, 34% did not express themselves in this regard.

Among those interviewed, 32% say that Mendez's performance so far has been "worse" than expected and another 32% believe his performance is as expected. 15% believe that it has exceeded expectations and 20% did not comment about it.

In the ranks of the PNP, 46% believe that he has performed "equal" to what was expected, 27% believe that he has surpassed the perspective over him, compared with 14% who feel he has not met the expectations and 13% with no opinion.